The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.
Scott Haught, a former assistant pastor at Midland Baptist Church in Midland, Michigan, and a deacon at Coleman’s Grace Baptist Church in Coleman, Michigan, was recently convicted of ne count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct relationship; four counts of second-degree CSC with a person under 13; and four counts of second-degree CSC relationship. His victims were his daughters.
The Midland Daily News reports:
A former leader at Midland Baptist Church and Coleman’s Grace Baptist Church, Scott Haught, 54, was sentenced to serve up to 25 years in prison for sexually abusing two of his daughters.
A jury found Haught, 54, of Saginaw, guilty of nine felony criminal sexual conduct charges after a two-and-a-half-day trial in March. He was sentenced Thursday, June 5 in Midland County’s 42nd Circuit Court.
Haught was convicted of one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct relationship; four counts of second-degree CSC with a person under 13; and four counts of second-degree CSC relationship. He will serve 11 years to 25 years in prison for the first-degree charge and was sentenced to 4-15 years in prison for the additional charges. He will serve both sentences concurrently.
Under state law, Circuit Court Judge Stephen Carras could have sentenced Haught to life in prison for the first-degree CSC charge.
Midland County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Atea Duso, who tried the case, said Haught had the opportunity to plead guilty to two second-degree CSC charges and serve four years in prison, with the remaining charges dismissed.
Haught opted to go to trial and rejected the plea offer on Feb. 27.
Haught has been in the Midland County Jail since his July 16, 2024 arrest by Michigan State Police. Why he appeared in a wheelchair for trial and sentencing was not addressed by the court. He will get credit for 324 days served on his sentence, will be required to register as a sex offender upon his release and will spend the rest of his life on electronic monitoring.
According to a 2006 Daily News story, Haught served as deacon of Coleman’s Grace Baptist Church, where he directed its summer Bible school. According to trial testimony, he also served as associate pastor at Midland Baptist Church until 2021.
Another Midland Daily News report adds:
Scott Haught led two lives: A public one as a leader in his church and a private one in which he used religion to control and abuse the women in his home.
Fifteen friends, family and even some of his fellow Midland County Jail inmates wrote letters of support and praise for Haught that were shared with Midland County Circuit Court Judge Stephen Carras before sentencing.
“They see you as a man of God who would never do the things that you have been convicted of doing. They cannot reconcile (your crimes) with what they know of you,” Carras said to Haught as he appeared before him in a wheelchair Thursday, June 5 during sentencing. “The reason why is because they weren’t here and didn’t see and hear the evidence that was presented to the court.”
A jury found Haught, 54, of Saginaw, guilty of nine felony criminal sexual conduct charges after a two-and-a-half-day trial in March. On Thursday, he was sentenced to 11 to 25 years in prison.
During the trial, jurors heard testimony from family members recounting how Haught, a former associate pastor at Midland Baptist Church and deacon at Coleman’s Grace Baptist Church, used his “religious authority” to gain control over his ex-wife and daughters.
Two victims testified that Haught ordered them to nap with him in his bed, which created the opportunity for him to sexually abuse them.
“The evidence showed us that in the home, you eroded your wife’s moral authority with your daughters to destroy her self confidence so that she would not stand up (against you),” Carras said. “All with the purpose of separating them from their mother – so that they would not look to her as a person for guidance and a person of authority.
….
Members of Midland Baptist Church, including Pastor Jim Payne, listened as Midland County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Atea Duso described how Haught used his background in theology to assert his dominance over the family.
“He controlled and manipulated his family and used his religion to justify that – ‘This is my house and these are my rules and this (sexual abuse) is what you should expect,'” Duso told the court. “He took advantage of these girls and robbed them of the innocence and freedom that they should have had as children.”
….
“You molested your daughters. The evidence shows that you treated those girls like possessions,” Carras said. “By all accounts, it looks like you had a strong moral compass. [huh?] You did a lot of good things for other people. But somewhere along the line, you forgot to police yourself. Your compass strayed and allowed you to do the things you did to your daughters over all those (10) years.”
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
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